Briefly

DPRK

WPK congress capped by military parade

A military parade to commemorate the eighth party congress of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was held in Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung Square on Thursday evening, state media reported on Friday. Kim Jong-un, the reelected general secretary of the WPK, appeared at the tribune of the square together with members of the party's central leadership body and commanding officials of the military. The military rolled out developmental ballistic missiles designed to be launched from submarines and other military hardware. Apart from the parade, art troupes on Wednesday gave a performance titled We Sing of the Party in Pyongyang to celebrate the eight-day congress which opened on Jan 5 and closed on Tuesday.

ITALY

PM battles to keep government afloat

Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi said he does not believe Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has enough backing from lawmakers to win a confidence vote scheduled for next week, according to an interview published on Friday. Renzi plunged the country into political crisis on Wednesday when he withdrew his two ministers from the cabinet, presenting a long list of grievances over how Conte had handled the coronavirus emergency and the economy. Conte has resisted calls to resign and wants to take his fight for survival to parliament, with his main coalition partners backing plans to try to find lawmakers from among opposition ranks to prop up the administration. If Conte loses either vote, President Sergio Mattarella might see whether another government can be formed. Otherwise the president will dissolve parliament and call snap elections.

Agencies - Xinhua